Recently, manufacturers of lighters and the consumers have become aware of dangers associated with lighters inadvertently becoming operable. More particularly, there is great concern by manufacturers of lighters, of fires being started by children playing with lighters leading unfortunately to tragic results.
To prevent the inadvertent disasters which can occur from children playing with lighters, attempts have been made to make lighters difficult for children to operate. However, in making the lighters difficult for children to operate, care must be taken so that the lighters do not become so difficult for adults to operate that adults are not willing to purchase the lighters.
The currently preferred method for making lighters difficult for children to operate is to provide a lighter which must be set to be operable and returns to an inoperable condition after a single use or striking of the lighter.